According to forecasts, the unexpectedly appeared and discovered comet C / 2023 P1 (Nisimura) can be seen with the naked eye in the northern sky in September – they wrote on the csillaszat.hu news portal.
The new comet was discovered on August 12, 2023 by a 72-year-old Japanese comet and nova discoverer, amateur astronomer Hideo Nisimura, at his observatory at a tea plantation called Gomjo near the city of Kakegawa.
Since the apparent brightness of 11 magnitudes at the time of the discovery is considered high for today’s smaller telescopes, the discovery was noted and confirmed by several amateur astronomers after the announcement by the National Observatory of Japan, according to the article.
Numerous observations made it possible to quickly determine the orbit of the celestial body, which confirmed that it was a previously unknown comet.
The comet, which belongs to the solar system, so it did not approach the sun from the distant regions of the solar system, will be close to the sun on September 18th. This means that it will be much closer to the Sun than Mercury, which would likely make it a bright comet.
According to the article, the faint comet plume can already be seen in recent long-exposure photos taken from places that are dark enough and free of light pollution. Its gaseous coma is green in color, which comes from a diatomic carbon molecule.
The apparent brightness of the comet can reach three degrees during its approach to the sun in September, so it can be observed with the naked eye if it does not appear at a very small angular distance from the sun. The comet will then be more visible in the bright twilight sky. According to astronomers, it would be best to try observing it a week before its closest approach to the sun, around September 10, when it’s fainter but easier to spot.
The comet will be closest to Earth on September 13, when it will be 127.5 million km from our planet – they wrote on the csillaszat.hu portal.
Source: MTI
